Remembering Mr. Nat Turner

By Ahmed K. El-Shabazz

The Black Nation of America and their Brothers and Sisters of  The Red Nation(so-called American Indians) have always fought to stay free ! There were many slave rebellions in America , some more successful than others. One famous slave rebellion that took place was lead by a slave by the name of Mr. Nat Turner,  the slave of one Benj. Turner. Mr. Nat Turner was born on 2, October 1800 and was murdered by beheading,  and total dismemberment, on 11, November 1831.

(Nat Turner)

Nat Turner was a born leader, according to the records we have of him, and because he had  taught himself to read  and write at a young age, he stood out from the other slaves that was owned by Benj. Turner.  The book that Nat Turner read the most was the Bible, as he was a slave, and like most Black people, he became a deeply religious man, often seen fasting, and praying . Nat Turner was said to have many visions which he said came from God. At age 23 Nat Turner ran away from the Tuner Plantation , only to return to his slave master after he had one of these visions.

Mr. Nat Turner was such a great leader among the slaves, that he would conduct religious services, preaching the Bible with such power that the other slaves called him ” The Prophet “. It was his reading of the Bible’s book of Exodus that lead Nat Turner to start planning his famous slave rebellion.  In the Bible’s Book Of Exodus it states that if a man is caught buying and selling men, that man should be put to death, and in the mind of a slave reading about the enslavement of the Hebrews by the Egyptians, Nat Turner felt that if God was on the side of the Hebrews , He would be on the side of the Black Slaves in America. So Nat Turner took on the role of Moses. And given Mr. Nat Turners faith in God, and seeing two Solar eclipse in the same year, one on 21, Feb. 1831 and the other on  13, Aug. 1831, Nat Turner took these to be signs from God. Nat Turner acted on these signs and began his slave revolt on 21, Aug. 1831.

Virgina, the state that Nat Turner lived in, was one one of the most evil places for Black people to be , ” free ” or slave.  And Nat Turner sought to put an end to that evil system. With the help of four fellow slaves by the names of  Sam, Hark, Henry, and Nelson they planned their rebellion, which was to have started on 4, July 1831, but  was called off due to more planning and  the illness of some of his co-planners. The ” sign” of the before stated eclipse on 13, Aug gave them the green light to start their war on the white slavemasters of Virgina that following week.

During Nat Turners slave revolt , which was started by Nat and the other 4 men, some 70 others Black slaves and free Blacks had joined in on the fight. No whites slave masters were shown any mercy, once the freedom fights under Nat Turner showed up at their homes, Nat Turner and his followers killed White Men, Women and children, the only whites that were not killed were the very poor whites who were not much better off than Black Slaves.

Before the Virgina Militia caught up with Nat Turner and his followers some 55 or more whites had been killed and their slaves freed, and their homes burned to the ground. The slave revolt  was put down in two days , after Nat Turner was found. Some 55 Black Slaves were put to death for being apart of Nat Turner’s slave revolt, while some 200 Blacks were killed who did not have anything to do with the revolt, which is the norm for the White Americans.

On November 11th 1831 Nat Turner was killed, but his bravery and his leadership lives on up to today. Nat Turner said that he wanted to spread  ” terror and alarm” among the whites, and it worked.  This was truly a great Man who gave his life so that others could be free, and also leaving a sign of what the future held for the White American Christians if they continued to act like the old wicked Pharaoh in the Exodus story, who refused to let the people of God go free. America should have learned from both stories , one based in allegory( the Exodus story) and the other based in fact ( Nat Turner ), but we see that America has turned a blind eye to both. Which is why she is in so much trouble today, for she still  will not let ALLAH’s people go free. And we know what happen to the Pharaoh, don’t we ?

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